Iran’s IRGC launches first military satellite as tensions with US flare

Apr 22, 2020

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday it has launched its first military satellite into orbit, becoming one of only a few countries with this technology in the region at a time of heightened US-Iran tensions.

IRGC commander Hossein Salami said that the corps became a “space force” with the launching of the satellite.

“The satellite’s successful launch enhanced new aspects of the Islamic Republic’s defensive might,” Salami said, according to the Iranian state-run Press TV. “By God’s grace, the corps turned into a space force today.”

The satellite is named “Noor,” which means “light” in Persian and Arabic. It launched Wednesday morning from a desert in central Iran via a fuel-powered satellite carrier, according to Reuters. Images on the Iranian state’s Arabic-language news service Alalam showed a Quranic verse inscribed on its side.

The launch means Iran joins a few other countries in the Middle East with military satellite capabilities, including Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey. Military satellites have a range of functions, including intelligence gathering.